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Toronto Japanese Film Festival highlights this week’s projections

Fri., June 14, 2013

Jason Anderson
Special to the Star

TORONTO JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL
: Though recently surpassed by China as the globe’s second biggest film market after North America, Japan remains one of the most movie-mad countries on Earth. Unfortunately, few of the over 400 features made there every year ever play on big screens on this side of the world. Now in its second year, the
Toronto Japanese Film Festival
helps rectify that situation by presenting 18 new handiworks by the country’s filmmakers — the TJFF runs to June 28 at the Japanese Canadian Culture Centre (6 Garamond Court). One especially intriguing offering is
Helter Skelter
, director Mika Ninagawa’s adaptation of a popular satirical manga about a pop idol who’ll do anything to keep her fame — it plays June 14 at 9:15 p.m. On June 17 at 7 p.m., the TJFF presents the Toronto premiere of
The Millennial Rapture
, the final film to be completed by longtime maverick Koji Wakamatsu before the filmmaker’s death in a car accident last October. A high-school tale that won a heap of prizes at the Japanese Academy Awards (including best film and best director),
The Kirishima Thing
makes its Canadian premiere at the TJFF on June 28 at 7 p.m.

FEMALE EYE FILM FESTIVAL
: Established in 2001 as a vital showcase for work by women filmmakers, the
Female Eye Film Festival
launches its 11th edition on June 19. The opening reception at the WARC Gallery at 401 Richmond St. W. includes screenings of eight new short films by young aboriginal directors who had been mentored by Female Eye alumni. The fest’s program of features kicks off with a screening of
Margarita
on June 20 at 8 p.m. at the Carlton. Female Eye continues to June 23.

THE GREAT CHAMELEON
: A locally shot comedy that plays the Royal this week,
The Great Chameleon
stars Victor Altomare as Joe Murky, a fast-talking con man with a knack for disguises. As fate would have it, Joe’s investigation into the disappearance of his niece allows him the opportunity to try on guises ranging from a kilt-wearing Scotsman to a patois-speaking Jamaican. More familiar faces in the movie’s cast belong to Robert Davi, Stacy Keach and Nick Mancuso.
The Great Chameleon
’s Royal run begins with a red-carpet premiere with cast and crew on June 14.

R. KELLY’S TRAPPED IN THE CLOSET SINGALONG
: R&B loverman
R. Kelly
could not have anticipated the phenomenon that he would spawn when he released the first instalment of his hip-hop soap opera back in 2005. And while Kelly’s ever more convoluted infidelity saga has attracted a South Park parody and countless other tributes, the original article remains impossible to top when it comes to lascivious lunacy. The first 22 chapters get the singalong treatment at TIFF Bell Lightbox on June 15 at 9 p.m.

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THIS IS MARTIN BONNER
: An award-winner at Sundance,
This Is Martin Bonner
is a thoughtful drama about the friendship between a middle-aged man and a newly released ex-con undergoing a difficult transition to life on the outside. Chad Hartigan’s film makes its Toronto debut this week at
Refocus
, the local series that’s made a specialty of finding overlooked gems from the American indie scene.
This Is Martin
Bonner plays a free screening at the Revue on June 18 at 9 p.m.

NO ONE LIVES
: In this bloodthirsty thriller by Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura,
Fast & Furious 6
villain Luke Evans is even more ruthless as a mysterious man who tangles with a gang of criminals. A world premiere in
TIFF’s Midnight Madness
program last September, it returns to local screens to play Cineplex and Raven Banner’s Sinister Cinema series — it plays June 19 at 9:30 p.m. at seven theatres before beginning a limited run at the Yonge-Dundas location.

SCHOOL OF ROCK
: Roncy Rocks is a music and arts fest celebrating the west-end hood otherwise known as Roncesvalles Village. Among the events on June 15 is a free screening of
School of Rock
, the 2003 hit that starred Jack Black and a bunch of riff-loving youngsters. We salute those who are about to rock when the movie plays the Revue at 11 a.m.

MY LITTLE PONY: EQUESTRIA GIRLS
: Resurgent in recent years due to a smart new TV incarnation, Hasbro’s long-running franchise makes the journey to big screens this weekend in a feature-length spinoff.
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls
plays 11 Cineplex theatres on June 16 at 12:30 and 2:10 p.m. Encore screenings follow on June 22 and July 7-9.

EL BULLI AT FOOD ON FILM
: In the season’s final installment of TIFF’s culinary-minded program,
Food on Film scrutinizes Ferran Adrià
, the Spanish wizard of molecular gastronomy. A screening of
El Bulli: Cooking in Progress
, a 2011 documentary about Adrià, is enhanced by insights from Kent Kirshenbaum, an associate professor of chemistry at NYU. The event takes place at Lightbox on June 19 at 6:30 p.m.

Correction - June 14, 2013:
This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said the Shinsedai Cinema Festival is scheduled for July 11 at the Revue. In fact, the festival has been cancelled for this year.

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